The rich are delaying retirement, too

By Matthew Heimer

Ever since the market crash and Great Recession, more people in mid-life have been announcing their intention (or their wish) to retire later than they’d originally planned. For many, of course, this reflects the bleak realization that they haven’t saved enough money to step away from the workplace. But a new report suggests that the markets and the economy are pushing even people at the higher end of the wealth scale to make a similar calculus.

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The numbers say…wait a few years.

Kasina, a consulting firm, and Horsesmouth, an online community of financial advisers, recently conducted a poll of about 2,500 advisers that touched on their clients’ retirement plans. The advisers said that more than 33% of their clients planned to retire at or after age 68, and that 10% of their clients were likely to retire at or after age 71. Kasina CEO Steven Miyao told Julie Steinberg of the Wall Street Journal’s Total Return blog that those numbers represent an improvement from 2009, but that most advisers’ clients had better retirement prospects 10 years ago; investment losses and fears about the economy fuel the current gloom, he added.

Kasina’s numbers may seem low: After all, the Conference Board recently reported that 62% of people aged 45 to 60 said they plan to delay retirement. But the survey offers a sentiment snapshot that’s more tightly focused on more affluent investors, since relatively few people with less than $250,000 of investable assets hire advisers. (For a wider-angled look at people’s plans to delay retirement, see this recent report by MarketWatch’s Andrea Coombes.)

One caveat: The Kasina survey was conducted last October and November; and since Nov. 15, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is up about 15%. Chances are that the bullish run has made many high-net-worth nest eggs look at least marginally better.

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About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.